Mr Walker
by Daruku Janubu
Summary: It was such a peaceful day till Allen came with that question. "If you are my 'dad', and I'm your 'son', does that mean that you will get me a ‘mother’?" and so chaos began... Allen and Mana story. One-shot.


Hey there!

Here I am with another one-shot!

I hope you'll like it!

Note: look out for bad grammar and vocabulary usage.

"_Thoughts"_

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Mr. Walker

* * *

Mana Walker was enjoying the peace that a day off could offer. The sun was in the sky, the birds were singing and life could not be more perfect. It had been a while since he had adopted his new son and their relationship had finally taken a turn in the right way. The boy even called him dad from time to time, thought he normally blushed every time he did. Yes, everything was going well.

The clown sat on a wooden box as he poured himself some tea in a cup over an improvised table. They were currently staying at a circus that had taken them in since their clown was currently in bed from illness and may be out for a few months.

It was his first day off, and everyone in the circus was resting as well. People walked while talking about the next act, others were heading to train and the majority stopped in front of him, greeting his passive figure with something like: "Good day Mr. Walker," "Nice weather isn't it?" or, "Walker, old man! How ya doin'?" He wasn't very fond of the last one. He wasn't that old. Well, he wasn't the youngest, but he wasn't that old either. Still he put up with it because Baxter "the Strong man" was like that to everyone.

To every greeting, he would answer politely with a verbal reply or a simple nod of his head in acknowledgement. He was, maybe, the most refined man in the whole circus, which made many laugh since he was… well… the clown.

Mana chuckled; it couldn't be helped. After all, it was very weird for a clown to be such a gentleman, but to him, being a pierrot was no excuse to forget his good manners; besides, many laughed even harder at a gentle-clown.

After taking a sip of his delicious tea, the man decided to entertain himself with the news on the daily newspaper. He opened it and took a look at how things were going around the country. Even there things seemed to be peaceful! Heck, not a single murder or accident of relevant importance to report! That was a miracle… mmm… something had to go wrong soon… he was never this lucky for long…

So when he heard the sloppy little footsteps -obvious sound of someone trying to be sneaky and failing miserably at it- he knew that his dearest son might just be the one to bring some gray cloud to his, otherwise, perfect sky. But it was Okay, no problem, if it was Allen the one behind it surely wouldn't be that bad… or so he hoped.

Mana sighed. In order to stop the child from jumping over him and causing him to lose another one of his favorite tea cups –that he took everywhere with him and cherished as much as he loved tea- he had to let the boy know that he had already been discovered. So, before Allen could actually jump on him, Mana changed the page in his newspaper and without looking said:

"Allen, for your own good, you better don't even think about it," the adult smiled as the child let out a disappointed sigh. The boy let himself plop into a box by his step father's side and pouted at him.

"How did you know I was there?" he asked with his lower lip jutting out childishly.

"My dear boy, you are as stealthy as Baxter can dream of being in the middle of lady's perfume store," answered the man chuckling at the boy's expression.

"Tch," the boy looked away from him in a stubborn way. Mana decided to continue reading as Allen sulked about having failed on his little evil plan.

But then, as the man took his tea cup to his lips, the boy started to speak to him again.

"Mana?"

"Yes?" asked the man before drinking.

"You are like my 'father', right?" asked the boy with a soft voice, straining purposely the word 'father'.

Mana looked at him from the corner of his eye and sighed in relief that the boy didn't seemed depressed, that was a good sign.

"Yes, you could say so," he said while looking at the financial news.

"Ok…"

Then silence…

Then another question…

"Mana?"

"Yes?"

"Does that make me your 'son'?" he asked innocently.

Mana smiled to himself as he continued to read.

"Again, you could say so."

"Oh… Ok."

Then silence…

Then another question…

"Mana?"

The adult sighed as he lowered the paper and decided to concentrate on his tea till the boy was satisfied with his questions.

"Yes, Allen?" he said as he took another sip of the dark tea.

"Does that mean that you will get me a 'mother'?" and there it was, the bomb the clown had been waiting for all morning.

Mana almost choked with his tea as he tried to control himself from the surprise that such a question brought to him. A mother? What?!

"(cough) wh-what?! (cough)" he said as he tried to recover from shock. The boy patted him on the back to help him.

"Mana! Don't be so clumsy! You could choke yourself to death!" exclaimed Allen as he helped the man.

After a few moments, Mana ventured to ask again.

"What did you say?"

"I said you should watch when you drin-"

The adult shook his head.

"No, no. What did you say before that?" the boy looked at him with expectative.

"I asked you if you were going to get me a mom!" he said enthusiastically.

"A mother?!" exclaimed the man almost falling to the floor, but fortunately he was prepared now. "What do you mean by that?"

The boy pouted.

"Oh, come on! It's not that difficult to understand, right?!" he said as he crossed his small arms over his chest. "I mean, you are my 'father' then I am your 'son' doesn't that mean that we are lacking a 'mom'?" he explained as if he was explaining some basic mathematical equation.

"Ok… maybe, but what is this about me getting you a mom?" asked the man in confusion.

"Well… I kinda guessed that if we are going to play 'father' and 'son' then we may need a girl to play 'mom' to complete the act, right? And normally is the 'father' the one that get's the 'mother' into the 'family', right?" he said as he brought a finger to his chin in thought.

"Ok…" Mana sweet dropped at the boy's reasoning. "But, where did you get the idea of making this whole family thing a theater act?"

"Well, you are a clown, right? I'm tryin' to make it simple for you," answered the boy with a mischievous smile.

"That I work as a clown doesn't make me a different species, you know?" Mana said with an annoyed smile.

"Heh, I know that, but you're the one that went all troubled after I just said something so natural, so…" Allen looked at him innocently as he took his arms behind his head.

Mana sighed in defeat, the boy was really getting good at his comebacks… damn him for teaching Allen to read the newspaper… now he had so many words to use against him…it's as they say: a child's brain is like a sponge over a spilled water… it just suck everything up.

"Ok… I get it." He said as he sat again in his box. His newspaper was all wet from the tea he spilled but fortunately the cup was still intact. "So… about this mother thing… Allen, I don't really think you understand the difficulties of getting a partner," he declared as he massaged his left temple hoping to bring up some ideas about how to deal with this little one's request.

"I do know that!" exclaimed the boy. "I mean, it certainly is been difficult to live with you!"

The man sweet dropped yet again, the boy was good at learning, but sometimes he was even better at misunderstanding him.

"I mean, a partner as in a female partner. A woman that could be the mother you talk about, Allen. It's not the same with you and I because we are both male."

The boy seemed to understand it better like that.

"Then it's more complicated if you want to be with a girl than with a boy?" he asked innocently.

"If you are a boy it's easier to be with boys and if you are a girl is easier to be with girls," Mana explained happy that the child seemed to be getting it.

"Then… why can't another boy be a mother?" asked the child making the adult face palm himself at the naïve question.

Mana took a deep breath before answering.

"Well… that… It's complicated…"

"Mana, you make everything complicated," declared the boy with a bored expression.

"Me? Heh, I believe you are the one that makes it complicated for me to explain my point, boy!" both glared at each other for a few minutes before finally giving up. "Ok, how about you let me finish before you throw another question?" the boy nodded but kept his bored expression on.

"Alright, let's see. For me to give you a mom, I need to find the right woman, because woman become moms and men become dads. As you so cleverly expressed it before, we already have the 'dad' piece of this family and therefore another man would mean two dads and no mom, got it?" the boy nodded softly trying to get the idea. "But finding the right woman is difficult, because as I said before, it's harder to deal with females."

Mana could see a question in the boy's eyes, one that he was obviously dying to get the answer of –it was pretty obvious from all his fidgeting- so the clown decided to end his misery.

"What do you want to ask?"

The boy almost jumped eagerly at the permission to ask.

"What do you mean by the right girl?" Mana could see the curious gleam in his big grayish eyes and sighed. The man scratched the back of his head as he thought about the answer.

"Well… the right woman would be… well… it would be someone that is nice to you… someone with the proper attitude, a lady most likely… someone that respects you and herself… someone you can work with and learn with and-"

"Wow! So many things… are you sure that's what a mom has to be?" asked the boy with a confused face. "I mean, I thought you just had to like the girl," he said as a matter of fact. Mana looked at him confused.

"Like her? Well… indeed you have to like her but that isn't enough, it's more than just the looks and the first glance and…" Mana noticed that the boy wasn't following at all and smiled funnily at him. "Hey, to all of this, where did you get the 'liking' part?"

"Mr. Jenkins," he answered throwing himself over the box again.

"Mr. Jenkins?"

"Yeah, it's one the guys in charge of the tent's maintenance. He said that you just had to like the girl, if she was beautiful then you were lucky," Mana blushed a little at the idea. Well, he couldn't really counter that. Definitely, if the object of your affection were to be beautiful then you would be a very lucky man.

"I think I get what he means by that, but Allen, it's not only about appearance, it's also about-"

"But Mr. Jenkins said you only had to find a girl you like, take her out and then put her in your bed, and then I'll have a mom," explained the boy completely oblivious of the red face that his step father sported at the moment. "He even said that if you slept with her, I may even get a lil' brother," Mana exploded.

"Allen!! This Jenkins man told you about making babies?!" yelled the adult completely offended that someone had told this things to his son. Who knows what kind of idea that bastard put inside Allen's innocent head!

"Ah?" Allen looked at his 'father's' frustrated expression and laughed. "No way! Mr. Jenkins said that telling me that was my dad's job…" he saw Mana sigh in relief and smirked. "But now that you brought the subject up, Mana, how do you make a baby?" asked the boy with the triple amount of curiosity than before.

Mana gulped loudly, he just got himself another problem. Suddenly, the day seemed to get warmer for he was sweating profusely. How to explain… well…

"Well…. When a man…. When a man loves a woman…"

"Love?"

"Yes… love…"

"Like in friends?" asked the boy.

"No! No like friends…well… maybe, a little like friends but…but…"

"Not like friends but like friends? How?" Allen was starting to get very confused now.

"Like… like…" the man was about to explode from all of the questions. "Would you please let me finish before you ask me another question?!"

The boy laughed at his frustrated face but then said sheepishly "Oops, sorry about that. Go on."

"Ok…When… they love each other… then…"

"Then?"

"Then they… well, they…." He started to rack his brain to find the right way to put this for the child… he had hoped that he would have many more years to prepare 'The talk' for his son… HE WASN'T READY YET! "They decide to have a baby… so they… then… well…"

"You don't know much about this stuff, do you?" asked the boy with a disappointed look.

The man became as red as a tomato and started fidgeting with his index fingers. Then he let out a soft growl and faced the child.

"Of course I know about this stuff! Its just that… that… well I thought we were talking about getting you a mom not about making babies and your sudden change of subject made me loose the track of the conversation!" exclaimed the adult clearing his throat.

"Oh! Hehe, sorry about that," said the boy with a smile. "It's ok, you can tell me about babies later then. Now, you were telling me why it was so difficult for you to find a girl you like!" he looked at his 'father' with all his attention.

Mana smiled satisfied that he had avoided such a difficult subject, at least for now. As the adult thought of how to explain the situation he laughed inwardly at the idea of Allen's way to see the whole picture. To the boy, women were girls no matter how old they were, if they were old then they were old girls and men were boys… at least those men that didn't scare him were considered boys. He was slowly allowing himself to see the world through his innocent eyes and that made Mana very happy. But even thought he was happy, that didn't mean he was free from all the tension that the question brought to him. At the end, he decided to give the easiest answer –or excuse- that he could come up with.

"It's because it has to be more than just one sided. Meaning, that even if I found a girl that I like it has to be a girl that likes me as well."

Allen looked at him slightly taken aback… Mana saw something flicker in the boy's eyes, but then it was gone leaving the same old curiosity.

"Like you as well? You mean that she has to want you to be a 'dad' as she is a 'mom'?"

The man nodded as it seemed that the boy got at least a slight part of that.

"So she should want to go out and have fun with you like the boys and girls that come to the show?" now, the boy seemed to have finally understood. Mana nodded happily with a warm smile.

"And now Allen, do you think a lady would ever want to go out with a poor old clown such as myself?"

Allen seemed to think about it for a while before looking at the adult.

"But… if it's a girl… then if she likes you, she could be my 'mom' if you like her, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course, it would be like that, yes," said Mana feeling better now. But then, Allen flashed him a triumphant smile, thing that unnerved the man to no end. _"Now what?" _he asked himself.

"Then it's alright! Because I'm sure there are many girls here that would like to go out with you!"

Now it was Mana's turn to be taken aback.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the man in bewilderment.

"Well, I heard the girls talking about how you were a real gentleman and how nice it would be to go on a… what was the word?... mm…date! Yeah, date! With you! A few even called you handsome! And I think that was something good, right?" he said enthusiastically. Mana's cheeks flushed sligthly as he played with his thumbs.

"Really… they… like me… hehe… me handsome? Wow... I…"

Mana had courted girls in the past but it had been a while since he had even thought of that possibility. Now that his son was bringing that subject up, he felt his confidence boost… maybe he could try it… but, wait a minute!

"Allen, where did you heard that?" he asked suspiciously.

The boy smiled sheepishly at his father before answering.

"At the changing tent. Most of the girls were changing and they were talking about me and you. They talked very fast and I was surrounded by boobies!"

Mana felt his cheeks blazing at the choice of words the little boy used.

"Allen! We don't call them boobi- ARG! We don't call them that!" he said very uncomfortable.

"No?... mm… ok… so, what do we call them then?" he asked with a startled face.

"We… we don't call them anyway! We don't speak about a woman's privates ever! A gentleman should never mention such things, it's very shameful!"

"But! I don't get it! What's wrong about them? It's not like it's their fault to have them all puffed up like that! Why are you being so mean to them?" he asked clearly upset.

"NO! No… no. Boy, we don't speak about that not because there's something wrong about them!" _"And definitely, there's nothing wrong about them…" _"But we don't because it makes the ladies uncomfortable!"

Allen seemed to understand better then.

"Like… with my arm?" he asked innocently. The adult just sighed.

"You could say so…" he answered, although, it wasn't the same kind of embarrassment.

"Oh… ok…" the child sat properly on the box and turning to his step father he continued. "Well… then as I said, I heard the girls while they were changing."

The man had to stop him there.

"Allen, what were you doing inside the dressing tent? I've told you a million times, men don't go into a lady's changing ever!" exclaimed the adult trying to make the child notice the necessity for some sense of shame.

"I know! But it wasn't like it was my fault! I was ab-abducted!" explained the child throwing his arms around to emphasize. "I was just there, walking around, minding my own thoughts when suddenly I heard some laughter and the next thing I knew was I was been dragged inside the tent and I had a big pair of-" the child stopped for a second to look at his father from the corner of his eyes and thought of a way to describe it without using the offensive word… yet he found none… "A big pair of 'unmentionables' all over my face!"

Mana blushed at his comment… Damn, the kid was lucky…

"And they all were talking about how cute I was. I am not cute! Girls are cute, I'm not cute!" he pouted childishly.

Mana only laughed_. "No my dear son, you are quite cute…"_ he thought as he looked at the fuming child.

"You know? Cute is the younger version of handsome for boys," he said to calm him down. "It means that you will become handsome as you grow."

The boy stopped his tantrum and turned to look at him with hopeful eyes.

"Really?"

The man was surprised by his reaction. "Yes." He said, making the brown haired child throw a fist to the sky in victory. "Hey… Allen… I'm not sure if I should ask but, why does it seems that being handsome is so important?"

Allen looked at him as if he had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said crossing his arms. "Girls seem to like 'handsome'. That means that if when I'm big I'll be handsome, it'll be easier to get a girl to like me!" he exclaimed with little stars shining in his eyes. "Just like all those girls like you!"

Mana blushed yet again. He seemed to be doing that very much today. He cleared his throat and said firmly:

"Well, yes, it should be helpful. But, Allen, it's not only about being handsome, it's also about-"

"Being a gentleman. Yeah, yeah, I know!" the boy put on a bored expression as if his step father were to be ruining his inner party. Then with his right hand he searched within his pants' pocket, taking out a folded piece of paper. "But, I'll be a gentleman Mana. I know I'll be," the clown smiled at the determination in Allen's voice. Of course he'll be a gentleman; Mana would make sure of that! But, even then, maybe getting a girl to like him would prove a little difficult… the clown shook his head deciding to concentrate on the paper the boy was unfolding. Better not to think of sad things right now. The boy turned to look at him and smiled softly. "But right now, you are 'handsome' and a 'gentleman', so here you go," and he handed the scrap of paper to him. Mana took it and read the list of names written in horrible calligraphy. "Those are the girls that said that they would like to go out with you."

Mana re-read all the names. There were eight in total and he recognized them all. Edna, the lion tamer; Mary, the fortuneteller; Jill, Fabriella, Helga and Silva, members of the acrobatic crew; Lucy, the contortionist! (a.n.: Go Mana!) And Elizabeth, member of the cooking group.

"Where….how… who…?" he was shaking from both, the excitement and fear that this brought him.

"As I said before, I heard them say it. Then I thought about writing them down to remember their names. Mr. Jenkins helped me, because I didn't know everyone's," he declared. "So, are you going to do it?"

It was the moment to decide. He could easily say no… but truth was he wasn't crazy enough to just refuse. He read the names again and couldn't help but to feel proud of having charmed these ladies by basically doing nothing more than to be polite. He was aware that he had neglected his manly 'necessities' for long… and he really longed for a female partner, after all, he wasn't a young boy anymore but…

He turned to Allen, who was more interested on kicking a pebble around than he was on his 'father's' answer. Mana had responsibilities now. He had a son to look out for… a son that deserved the best… and that son… that son deserved a woman to call his mom. He wasn't going to go out with these women for his own pleasure and contentment now! He was going to be serious and search for the right one. Maybe, between this eight ladies, he could find the one that will care for Allen as much as he did… the one that could take care of him if something ever…

Suddenly, for the first time, Mana noticed that important possibility. If something, anything, were to happen to him, Allen would be left all alone again. The boy will be back in the streets doing odd jobs, hating everyone as everyone hated him for things he didn't deserve. Allen would suffer, and it would be worse then, because now the boy would know that he had lost his chance at something good, love. Would someone else ever be merciful enough to take him in when the boy had fallen again into the dark pit he had been in before? More than probably, he would be bullied even more… He couldn't allow that! He had to find the right woman for Allen's sake! This wouldn't be about himself; this would be about his son. (a.n.: way to have a live changing epiphany, don't you think?)

"I'll do it!" he exclaimed jumping on his feet and almost making the child fall to the ground from the surprise.

"Yo-you-you'll do what?!" asked Allen as he tried to calm his fast beating heart.

"I'll go out with these ladies and get you a 'mom'," he declared with absolute determination.

"You… you'll do that?" Allen seemed to be even more startled now.

"Yes," the man walked to take his cup and put his drying newspaper under his arm. "I'll find the right girl to be your mom, Allen. And then," he looked at the boy with a gentle smile. "We'll be a real family, I swear."

Allen stood there digesting the man's words as the happy clown entered their little tent. When his step father disappeared from sight, he frowned.

"Tch," he looked down to the pebble he had been playing with. "Silly clown."

* * *

(Now, let's have a look at how Mana did on his dates, shall we...? oh man, this is going to be good!)

Mana was surprised when he asked the first lady on the list to go out on a date. The woman had practically thrown herself at him while screaming 'YES!' Effusive Edna, she had strength and determination. She was also well mannered, at least when she wasn't close to her beloved beasts.

They went for dinner to a nice -but small- restaurant. They talked mostly about her at first; Mana wasn't one to speak much of himself. But she wasn't going to have it that way. Soon, she was asking him about his life, his travels and all, everything became subject of her interest, everything, except his boy. Mana introduced the subject into the conversation, but she didn't seem very interested. He asked her if she liked children.

"They are cute and all, but I prefer the greater mammals," she explained. "Allen is quite nice, but … he has his moments… I think he's becoming spoiled. If I were you, I would surely apply some discipline," the way she said it made him shiver. It brought to his mind the kind of discipline she gave to her 'pets', the discipline that a leather belt could offer.

He sighed and smiled while listening patiently. But inside his mind he scratched her name from his list. No person, be it male or female, was going to hit his son for any reason, ever.

(a.n.: yeah… right…)

* * *

Then he went out with Mary, the fortuneteller. But things didn't go too well. She kept giving him bad omens about the future and about the necessity to get rid of Allen as soon as possible. According to her, he had to before, and he quoted, "it was too late to repent."

He tried to calm her down.

"I was under the impression that you thought he was cute…" he said in hopes of bringing her to better terms with the child's presence. She only answered by saying that the boy was indeed cute, but cuteness wasn't going to change his destiny!

Mana sweat dropped as he scratched her name from his mental list. No way was she going to take care of the child. She would probably throw him from a cliff if her cards told her to do so.

* * *

After that, he gave a chance to the girls of the acrobat crew. And he was given a pleasant surprise by learning that each one of them was a whole different world.

Jill was the tomboy of the group; she loved animals and training her body constantly. Her determination was something to behold and appreciate dearly.

Fabriella was the girly one. Always worried about her looks, it was all about her makeup, her dress, her manners… but because of that she had a very refined air to her that he found quite alluring.

Helga was the soft one. She talked slowly and was pretty shy, but she also had a very captivating smile.

And then there was Shiva, the exotic one. Everything about her spoke of a foreign and mystical land. Her skin, her accent, everything had him mesmerized.

But there was one thing that they all had in common, and it was that none of them… were looking for something serious. They were just looking for someone nice to have fun with, more of a friend than a possible husband. He was delighted to share with them, but found himself disappointed for having to erase them from the list.

* * *

The things that happened with Lucy, the contortionist, are to be considered too much to be depicted in a T-rated story. And Mana preferred -for the sake of what sanity he had left- to think of it as just a bad dream. A very disturbing bad dream…

* * *

And finally, he reached the last name of the list. Elizabeth, the cook. And boy! Mana really fell for that one. She was the closest to his ideal partner he had ever encountered. She was kind, intelligent and lovely. Elizabeth, or Eli as she preferred to be called, was always willing to listen and it was a pleasure to listen to her. She was quite beautiful as well. Her lovely black hair (always tight in a neat bun), her heart shaped face and bright green eyes… a sight to make you sigh. Oh! Mana wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. She was perfect! And she covered the most important requirement, she actually liked Allen. The young lady liked children very much and seemed to enjoy the presence of the glutton of a son he had.

"I like children who like my food," she declared, and with that simple declaration she had him at her feet.

Different from the other attempts, this on lasted for almost a whole month. The man would sneak after their shows and spend time with her. Eli will always have something special prepared for him. Then, they will walk hand in hand for as long as the twilight lasted. Mana felt slightly bad for leaving Allen alone at their tent at night, but this could be his only chance to make their family complete. Giving the boy a mother was priority now.

She told him her story. About how her fiancé had gone to war and died. In her sadness she had to run away from home because her father wanted her betrothed to another man as substitute. She started to work as a cook after learning from an old lady and has been doing it for almost three years. She confessed that she still hurt for the young soldier, but she had to learn to let him go. Mana promised to help her on that. She smiled and they shared their first kiss.

Time went on and Mana learned again the happiness of having someone understand you when you spoke. He had been separated from the world for so long –only having a ten year old as companion- and now he was able to see how much he had been missing. He had to make sure that this lasted. Soon, maybe a few weeks more, the other clown will come back and they will have to leave. He talked with her about it, and she seemed to like the idea, nothing really tied her to that place. He was happy to hear it.

But fate wasn't going to have it that way. The crazy clown and the foundling child were meant to be a duet, so the third member could never exist.

It was actually simple and clean. One day she came to him with a beaming face and he already knew this was bad news for him.

He was back. The man that she had loved for so long and that supposedly died in war came back. Her brother had been searching for her for almost a year because the man wanted to see her again. Eli was elated. Mana was heartbroken. Destiny was happy.

"You should go Elizabeth," he said smiling to hide his disappointment. "A chance like this doesn't come twice in a life." Something in his head told him that it actually didn't happened twice in a life… to come back from death that is. (a.n.: the earl may have something to do with that)

She apologized to him for having made so many promises… for having giving him so much hope…

"No need to worry," he said chuckling slightly. "Besides, it's not like we were engaged or something," he felt sorry for that too. "But this man is the one you really wish to be with. I will not stand in your way. Besides, we can always be… _friends_" Oh… how much it hurt to say the accursed word.

She threw herself to his arms and gave him one last kiss. She him again for being so understanding and for having shared so much with her, and then –just like that- she was gone. And Mana, with much bitterness, erased her name from his list.

* * *

The clown sat on his box while his personal dark cloud hanged over his lowered head. He sighed for the millionth time that day. Man, was he unlucky! Now he remembered why he was still single!

Indeed, Mana had always been the charming guy, but for some reason, whenever he really got close to a lady, she was either compromised or completely nuts!

A voice from a distant memory rang in the back of his head mocking him. **"You're cursed Mana, you're cursed!"**

He didn't really know who had said it, but he surely would have punched him for that!

"Mana…?" the man raised his head to look at the curious face of his adopted son. He hid his face in shame. Who could actually screw up with eight beautiful women in only a month? He had let the boy down for sure. "Are you alright?"

Mana sighed before facing him.

"Yes… I'm fine," he said with a voice that countered his statement. "But I'm afraid that things didn't go very well with the girls."

"Oh…" the boy fidgeted a little before saying. "It's alright," Mana had expected him to be disappointed, but Allen actually sounded happy.

"What?" he exclaimed baffled.

"It's alright. I wasn't really expecting you to go out with them in the first place… so it's just fine," he explained with a big smile.

"Uh…hmm…well, thanks for comprehending?"

"OH, you're welcome!" beamed the boy as he turned around. "Well, I have somewhere to go now, so, see you later Mana! Hope you feel better!" and with that the boy walked away leaving a startled clown.

"What just happened?" he asked himself, but couldn't find an explanation. Then he wondered where Allen was going with such a satisfied aura. Leaving his gloomy attitude to the side for a while he stood up and went to follow his little charge.

* * *

"So he actually did it?" he heard the hoarse voice of a man speaking.

"Yeah. He went out with all eight of them."

Mana hid behind a big wooden box as he watched the man speaking with his son. The man had the appearance of a drunken slacker that was escaping work. Thing that was proven by a few empty bottles close to him. Why was Allen with such a low life?

"I can't believe it…your papa isn't very good, don't you think? Least he could have gotten a lover or something…"

Mana clenched his teeth as his cheeks became slightly red.

"I don't really understand what that means…" said the child with a frown. "But I made my part and I won. Mana went out with all of them. So I won the bet!"

Bet? What bet? Mana's eyes widened very much as he saw the dirty man take something from within his jacket.

"Alrighty child," he threw a little bag at Allen, who caught with his right hand. "A bag of candy for the boy. Geez… when I bet you couldn't make the old sir go out with them I really thought you wouldn't do it."

The boy took a piece of candy and threw it at his mouth savoring it with great pleasure.

"I said I would… and I did," he said taking another one.

"Hehe, ok, ok… I admit it, you did well," then the man looked at the boy with mocking eyes. "But it was difficult, wasn't it?"

Allen stopped eating the candy to frown in annoyance at the old man.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I saw you," declared the lazy worker. Mana watched as the face of his son contorted into one of anger. "You kept following him everywhere he went with those girls. Always hiding and seething at them," the man laughed before bringing a cigarette to his mouth. "You were jealous," he said before he lit it up.

Allen shook a little as he growled.

"I wasn't! It isn't like that!" he screamed.

Mana felt startled by this realization. Allen was jealous.

"Hehe, you may deny it, but you just couldn't contain yourself. You didn't wanted to share your papa's attention with those women," the man laughed at the child's expense. "You didn't even want a mom; you just lied so he would go along with your plan."

Allen's eyes started to tear up. He was feeling so very upset. He bit his lower lip trying to hold it up.

"Boy, you need to grow up," declared the man leaving all signs of mockery aside. "Eventually, adults need and seek for the company of someone that can actually understand when they speak… not someone you have to sweeten talk to. For example, a brat like you."

"Shut up!" demand the child. "It's not like I'm forcing him to!"

The man faced the child with a sardonic face.

"No? hehe, don't make me laugh child," he took a good drag of his cigarette before throwing the smoke towards Allen making him cough. "The only reason your father went with those girls was because you asked for it. He only does what he thinks you would want from him. He had forgotten about everything else because he has to take care of you."

A few angry tears started to fall down Allen's eyes.

"If you were good, you would let him have a life in peace instead of being a problem," the man took another drag and smiled at the boy's tears. "Say kid, do you know what being a hindrance means?" Allen shook his head as he fought to stop crying. "A hindrance is someone who keeps getting in the way of other's happiness. You, for example my dear boy, are a hindrance to your 'papa'"

"He said…" mumbled the boy trying to avoid sobbing out loud. "He said he'd be there for as long as I wished him to be…" he turned a fierce and determined glance at the man. Unfortunately, the tears took the strength of it away. "But he does it because he wants to… I'M NOT FORCING HIM!"

"Bah!" exclaimed the man as he crossed his arms. "Think what you wish. I'm done talking to a spoiled brat as you. I –in difference from your 'papa'- do know better than to waste my time."

That was all that was needed for the child to brake. Allen ran away crying without any other word. The worker didn't even watch him leave. He only leaned back and covered his eyes with his scaly cap, ready to take a nap. But before he could fall asleep, he heard soft footsteps getting closer.

"Mr. Jenkins I presume," said a gentle voice.

"That's me," the man took of his cap off before turning to see his 'guest'. "How may I-"

Mr. Jenkins never got to finish his sentence, for he was thrown back by a punch in the face. The man tried to stand up, groaning from the pain, but was taken by the collar of his dirty shirt and shoved against the wooden support of a tent.

"Mr. Jenkins, allow me to introduce myself," he opened his eyes to find himself only a breath away from the seething expression of the circus' new clown. "I am Mana Walker. Mr. Walker for scum like you. And I believe we have a few things to talk about."

The man gulped… this was more than he bargained for…

(Ten minutes later)

"And if you ever get close to my boy or -somehow- fill his head with stupid ideas, I swear that the last thing you'll ever see will be the color of your insides. I hope you understand, Mr. Jenkins," the beaten up man wasn't sure what was more scary, the threat that Mana gave… or the fact that he was smiling sweetly while saying it.

The clown saluted the trembling man with his top hat before retiring from the scene as if nothing had happened. Mana walked very much satisfied with himself, that was just what he needed, to vent out some anger on the right target. He felt completely renewed, now he only had to help his child feel right again. They were in for a 'father' and 'son' talk.

* * *

It took a few minutes for Mana to find Allen. He was in their tent, curled in a little ball over his makeshift bed. The adult felt really bad, he never actually noticed that Allen had been following him or that he was getting jealous from all of this. He knew he should be mad at the boy for using him to win a bet, but… maybe this whole month had been punishment enough for the child.

"Allen?"

The boy flinched slightly but soon relaxed.

"Ya?"

The man wasn't really sure what to say, so he decided to use the classic question.

"Are you alright?"

It was the dumbest question. If someone runs crying and hides in their 'room' trying to disappear, they obviously ain't right. Mana would have face slapped himself if he weren't trying to look supportive.

"Yeah," the voice he said it in seemed more calmed than Mana expected.

"May I sit here?" he asked as he touched the side of the 'bed'.

"You may."

They sat there in silence. But Mana soon felt it too stressing so he started to talk.

"Allen… about what that Jenkins guy told you…you shouldn't listen to someone like that."

The boy turned slightly to look at the clown.

"You heard it?" Mana sighed and nodded. "Are you mad at me?"

Mana shook his head and offered a soft smile.

"It's alright. You were trying to prove a point… and besides, I know you like candy…" he laughed at the pout on the child's face. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

The adult leaned on the bed by the child's side.

"I never noticed that you were sad that I was going out so much… That you were there… I'm sorry for having neglected you."

The boy looked at him weirdly.

"What does 'neglected' means?"

Mana chuckled softly.

"It means I didn't pay you enough attention."

"Ah…" the boy frowned sadly. "You're not at fault. It was me who asked you to go in the first place…"

"Yes… you're right on that. But still, I was irresponsible… even if you asked me to go, that didn't mean I could leave you alone for so long."

"If you say so…" the boy sighed in relief as if he had taken a great weight of off his shoulders. Mana wondered what it could have been.

"Well…" said the clown as he lay completely on the 'bed'. "At the end, I guess the whole 'mother' thing was just a ruse to win your bet, uh?"

Allen stayed in silence for a while making Mana wonder if he had fallen asleep.

"Wanna know a secret?" asked the boy with a little voice.

"Yes… I suppose," the man turned to look at the child's back.

"It was only half a lie."

The silence reign again between the too of them. Mana tried to digest this new information. "Oh…" he said trying to fill the blank of his answer.

"Mr. Jenkins dared me to do it… but he never told me to ask you for a mom… he simply explained what I could win if it worked…" the child took a deep breath before continuing. "I was curious… I wanted to know, what does it feel to have a mom? But at the same time, I didn't want it… because… because… I knew it wouldn't work. I made you do something you didn't want to… sorry."

"It's ok… If I must admit it… it was quite an experience," said Mana to make the boy feel better. "I haven't courted a woman in so long… and to be quite honest, I'm as bad as I used to be when I was but a boy."

The boy turned to look at his 'father' with a surprised expression.

"Mana, you were also a boy?" he said it as if it were a great discovery.

The clown smiled an annoyed smile before ruffling the child's hair.

"Well, of course!" he said with gritted teeth. "I may be older, but I too was once young!"

Allen smiled softly at the gentle and caring gesture.

"Will that mean that I will too be bad at this 'courting' stuff?" he said innocently.

"Hopefully, not son," Mana noticed he had said son when he wanted to say boy and bit his tongue hoping not to have upset Allen. To his surprise, the child scooted closer to his body and sighed completely relaxed.

"Yeah, I hope not to," and he closed his slightly puffy eyes.

"Sorry," The clown couldn't help but to feel guilty for not having succeeded. "Maybe I could try even harder…"

Allen shook his head slowly.

"I don't mind it, really. Besides, even if you were to actually go looking for a mom for me, you just won't find it," he said with a little sad frown.

"Why not?" asked Mana as he caressed the boy's head.

"Because…" The child rubbed his little gloved hand with the normal one. "Who would want a son like me?"

Mana puffed his chest with a smile, "Well, me of course!"

"Tch," Allen turned his head to the side hiding his small smile. "That's just because you are crazy, but what are the chances of you finding a girl as crazy as you?" the boy was trying to contain his laugher now.

"Is that a little laugh I hear?" he said as he started tickling the boy, making him squirm under his fingers. "Don't hold it in or I'll tickle you till you faint child!"

The boy couldn't hold it any longer so he started to laugh and squeal from the attack. Mana couldn't feel happier at the moment. His entire dark cloud was being washed away by that happy sound. The boy's laugh was like music to his ears and made him feel proud of being the one to cause it.

After a few minutes they both laid on the makeshift bed as they tried to recover their breath. Allen turned to look at the panting clown with a soft expression.

"I really mean it," he said, gaining the adult's attention. "I don't really need a mom, so you don't have to work hard on that," the boy snuggled against the adult's chest making him feel a warm sensation in his heart. "It's alright… as long as there's you and me, everything is alright," the man could feel warm tears forming in the corners of his eyes, but he would not cry, not in front of the child, maybe later… yeah, maybe later… "I'm happy as long as I have you dad," ok… maybe he would cry now… NO, He had to be strong! But…. BUT! The boy called him dad!!!! But no, he would cry later, when the boy was fast asleep and unaware of the power his little words had in the adult by his side. But for now, they just cuddled against each other receiving the comfort that only the presence of the other could offer.

* * *

The man limped his way up the hill that oversaw the clear outside of town were the circus rested. He was very angry for he wasn't told that he could get mauled over by a freaking clown!

As Mr. Jenkins got closer to the top he noticed a figure sitting on a rock.

"Hey!" he exclaimed making the man in question turn slightly at his direction to look at him over his shoulder. "You have many things to explain, you bastard!"

The man took out a cigarette –one that was obviously of way greeter quality than the one the other man smoke before- and lit it up. He took a long drag at it and expelled the smoke with rare elegance before chuckling defiantly at the new arrival.

"Seems you've met the dark side of my dear old friend," he said with amusement. He was having a lot of fun observing the worker's beaten state.

"You said it wouldn't be dangerous You said I couldn't get hurt!"

"Oh, come on. Don't be a crybaby. You got beaten up by a clown, deal with it, old man!" the man dressed in black said with a sly smirk. "Besides, it's you who provoked him."

"You said to push the kid!"

"Push him, my friend. I never said anything of making the child cry and run away," the man showed a pair of old binoculars to Jenkins. "Saw it all. So tell me, did it hurt when Mana hit you with his little clownish toys?"

"ARGH!" screamed the worker sitting down in frustration. "Go to hell, Cross."

"Sorry buddy, been there before, they don't want me back," chuckled the red haired general.

"Whatever," grumbled the old man. "Any way, I did my part of the deal. I demand my reward!"

"You're reward? Allow me to laugh at you, you didn't succeed at all," said the general pressing the butt of his cigarette against the floor. "The deal was of you getting the clown to have a partner, and he didn't."

"Oh no! You're not going to deceive me. When we made the deal, I only agreed on making the child allow his dad to go out on a date. It ain't my fault that Mana is such an idiot. He had all those women at his feet and he didn't even sleep with one. He's just a wimpy old man and I can't be blamed for that."

The general laughed again and took something from within a bag that lay by his side.

"Well, well, seems I can't fight against that," the red haired man said as he caressed the bottle of liquor he had taken out. He could feel the eyes of the silly worker watching greedily the beauty of one of the finest liquors you could get in all Europe. "After all, Mana does tend to be an idiot."

The dirty man crawled all over to the side of the general, his eyes glued on the bottle, dreaming of the fine flavor of high level liquor.

"Yes… indeed… now… give me my reward," demanded the man throwing himself towards the bottle. Cross simply moved it away before he could get it and laughed as the man fell to the ground with a groan.

"So… you want your reward?"

"Yes!!! Yes, please… hehe, please, I worked hard…"

"You worked hard?"

"Harder than I normally work… I deserve my price," the general put the bottle only a breath away from the slacker's face making the man almost fall into lovely trance.

"If you really want your reward…" the man nodded stupidly making the red haired man smile in satisfaction. "Well, then, be my guest!" he never knew what got him, for in just a second, everything went black as he fell into a deep 'peaceful' sleep.

"Heh," mumbled the general as he cleaned the end of his favorite little hammer. "As if I could waste good liquor in a person with no class like yourself. Your drunken taste buds would never be able to appreciate it."

The general took another bottle of the same kind from his bag, only this one was empty, and placed it beside the unconscious man.

"There. Now when you wake up, at least you'll think you drank it all by yourself."

A whistling sound called his attention making him raise his glance to the sky barely catching the golden trail of his golem. The energetic sphere fell over the hat of its master and sighed in relief. Tilting its body to the side, the golem watched the unconscious body of the man by his master's side, and then returned to his position deciding not to care about him.

"Hey Tim, show me."

The golem nodded its body and opened his mouth to let out the ray of light to generate his holographic screen. Timcampy showed general Cross the picture of a child and a man cuddled together over a little bed. The boy completely asleep as the man caressed his hair in a loving way. Cross tch-ed at them.

"Ok, stop," the golem obeyed again without been told twice.

The general raised his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then he looked at the circus resting below them.

"Things are turning to be worse than I thought they would…"

He sighed and took off his hat making the golem fly against its will. He passed a hand through his hair and tried to relax.

"Mana… what the hell are you doing?" he growled. "Why are you making him depend on you so much?" he wondered. "Are you even aware of the things you're causing?"

Timcampy rested on the master's shoulder.

"This is heading for disaster Tim," he said scratching the golem at the side. The golden sphere seemed to enjoy it, for its wings fluttered. "They depend too much on each other… I hoped Mana would somehow wake from this and get someone else to be a support for the child but… I guess that's just not possible."

The man took a little bottle of whisky from his coat and took a sip.

"Mana and the fourteenth never liked to have extra company. I guess that's why they can't afford to start now…" the general chuckled slightly making the golem look at him with an –incredibly- startled expression. "I can't believe it… but now it's impossible to deny it. They are completely dependent of the other… do you know what that means Tim?"

The golem shook its body.

"It means that none of them would be able to survive without the other," the master's face took a somber expression. "And that means that when one of them is gone…" he looked at the sky in frustration. "It's quite probable that he'll come forth," biting his lower lip the general stood up. "Just great!" he groaned. "It seems that everyday my job gets even more nastier… but I guess this is better than going back to the HQ, don't you think?"

The golem nodded fervently, making his master smile.

"Well, let's get moving. The clown of the circus is already healthy, so he shall come back today, which means that Mana is going to leave soon," he put on his hat and looked back for another instant. "I'll have to make my move soon too… maybe we can avoid tragedy this time," and with that –and a kick on the ribs of the unconscious man- the general left the scene with his loyal golem on his arm, allowing the old pierrot and child to enjoy that peaceful moment of their lives. At least… for now.

* * *

Well, that was all. I hope you've like it. This story could be considered to be partner of "For the time we lost" two-shot I wrote some time ago. I think I'll write at least two more Mana-Allen one shots, who knows xD.

Also, about "the clown in your dreams", I'm alredy working on the next chapter and it might be up in a weak and a half more, if time allows it.

OK, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!


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